Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Wednesday described the United States as the “Great Satan” following a deadly attack on a wedding ceremony in southern Iran.
Iranian officials revealed that at least four people were killed and dozens of others injured in the late-night strike on the ceremony in Kuhestak..
Ghalibaf condemned the attack, saying it resulted in the deaths of children and their families. He also referenced other deadly incidents in Iran during the early stages of the ongoing Middle East conflict, including an attack on a school in Minab.
“If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it’s Satan. Shields a junior Satan that does the same? It’s THE Great Satan,” Ghalibaf wrote on X, in an apparent reference to the United States and its key ally, Israel.
The description of the United States as “Satan” dates back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic, coined the term. It has since been used by successive Iranian leaders in reference to Washington.
Following the wedding attack, Iran launched waves of drone and missile strikes against US military bases across the Middle East, including facilities in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
The US military did not directly address allegations that it carried out the strike on the wedding ceremony.
However, US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Tim Hawkins rejected any suggestion that American forces deliberately target civilians.
“The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” Hawkins said, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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